I’m ok- you’re not.

And, none of my friends like you either.

And, by the way, you can’t tell me what to do.And, I want your land,

money, resources and power.

So there.

"Intolerance breeds injustice.

Injustice invariably leads to rebellion and retaliation, and these will lead to escalation on the part of both making reconciliation almost impossible.

It would appear that during times of stress, despair and frustration, people become increasingly irrational, and they do things which they never think they are capable of.

And so we see hideous brutality perpetrated by the most gentle people.”

http://www.religioustolerance.org/curr_war.htm

ContentsDefinition of ethnicityHistory of ethnicity and ethnic conflictTypes of Ethnic ConflictsCritiqueEthnic Cleansing vs. GenocideEthnic conflict case studies:

Northern IrelandYugoslaviaRwanda

Ethnic conflicts todayPossible Resolution/ PreventionActivities

http://www.aperfectworld.org/politics.htm

Definition of ethnicityEthnicity (n)- a term which represents social groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots which may occur despite racial difference

- about.com

An ethnic group is a culture or subculture whose members are readily distinguishable by outsiders based on traits originating from a common racial, national, linguistic, or religious source. Members of an ethnic group are often presumed to be culturally or biologically similar, although this is not in fact necessarily the case.

- Wikipedia

“All Quebec on the march to live in French”- 1989

History of ethnicity

Group identity in the past most commonly related to geographic area, religion, language and/ or lifestyleConcept of ethnicity arose with 19th century nationalism and the European state model, as well as colonialism.Ethnicities have NOT remained the same throughout time.Current ideas of ethnicity relate frequently to (and change with) location

A demonstration in Riga, Latvia, on November 18, 1989 demanding an immediate end to the Soviet occupation.http://www.li.lv/en/file/pdf/History_of_Latvia_2005.pdf

“Latvian is the official language in Latvia. Before … independence in 1991, only 18%-20% of non-Latvians knew the Latvian language. Increasing the number of people who speak Latvian was one of the top priorities and main challenges for the educational system and cultural life of the renewed Latvian state.”

http://www.policy.lv/index.php?id=102387&lang=en

Creation of ethnicity?

Colonial powersDivide and conquer

German/ Belgian imposed height requirement for education in Rwanda and Burundi

Census taking and identity cards

Economic divisionsEven when ethnicity unclear (due to close living arrangements, intermarriages, etc.) groups sharing economic characteristics become linked as a group

1930s census of Rwanda: all those with ten or more head of cattle = Tutsi; everyone else = Hutu.

Political Motivator“justified”/ legitimate means of attaining political power

Colonial claims in the Berlin Conference

History of ethnic conflict

Conflict between different cultural groups is not new

Cultural groups sought power over specific territory or resourcesEthnicity determined the ‘sides’ rather than the conflict

Today’s ethnic conflict has 2 sources

European colonial practicesEuropean nationalist movements of the 19th century

“Fear of the future, lived through the past.”

Types of Ethnic Conflicts

“Uncontrolled emotions”Riots, pogromsLack of clear cut objectives by perpetrators

“Ideological doctrines”Deep historical rootsStrong nationalist feelingIncreased with economic decline

“Political Institutions”Ideological differencesCompeting political claims

Kumar Rupesinghe (http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu12ee/uu12ee04.htm#kumar%20rupesinghe)

Critique of “Ethnic Conflicts”John R. Bowen, "The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict," Journal of Democracy 7.4 (1996) 3-14

Since conflicts are about power and resources, is it

appropriate to refer to them as “ethnic” conflicts?In many countries, ethnic groups cohabit peacefully, they are not torn apart by “age-old hatreds.”Ethnicities are a modern invention

Littleton High School: http://www.global-art.org/

Bowen: Yugoslavia’s conflict was not about ethnicity

Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians all speak same language and have lived side by side, most often in peace, for centuries. Separated by religion--Croats - Roman Catholic, Serbs - Orthodox Christian, and Bosnians - Muslim

Each population includes sizeable numbers of the other two religions.

Religions = symbols of group differences, but religious differences by themselves, have not caused conflict. Rising rates of intermarriage (as high as 30 percent in Bosnia)

Intermarriage most effective way to blur ethnic lines

TermsEthnic cleansing

the mass expulsion and killing of one ethic or religious group in an area by another ethnic or religious group in that areaAt one end= forced migration, at the other = genocide

Genocide'the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group' Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group: (a) Killing; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm; (c) Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group(The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide )

“Another source of Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing campaign — like the Nazi Holocaust and also like the Tutsi massacres in Rwanda — was the desire to create an ethnically homogenous nation-state of one race, one tribe, one mindset, one "volk."

Inevitably, this process turns members of other ethnic groups into political enemies who have either to be driven over the borders or exterminated.”

http://www.cilicia.com/Ethniccleansing.htm

8 stages of Genocide (G. Stanton)

ClassificationLack of “mixed” categories makes genocide more likely

SymbolizationDehumanizationOrganizationPolarization

Targeting outcast group AND moderates of own group

PreparationExterminationDenial

Perpetrators refuse to recognize crime, try to cover up, deny existence or blame victims.

1933: Nazis urge boycott of Jewish shop

http://www.american-pictures.com/gallery/usa/pages/usa-00611.htm

Ethnic Conflicts ariseEuropean colonialism fades

Preferential and discriminatory practices for or against one (or more) ethnic groups develops into political action

Group wants to maintain statusGroup wants to improve status

Multi-ethnic empires decline in midst of nationalist movements

Nation-state seen as ideal and “most stable” form of government

Post Cold warSuperpowers acted similarly to colonial powers in encouraging strife within countries